


Handful of Pixels

by captainjellyfish



Category: Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Genre: M/M, a lot of tenderness., dads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28334535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainjellyfish/pseuds/captainjellyfish
Summary: Err and Ignignokt only have one actual thing to their name, and it matters more than all other things.
Relationships: Ignignokt/Err
Kudos: 9





	Handful of Pixels

“He’s _sleeping,_ man.” Err quietly prods. He nudges Ignignokt, who holds their baby in his arms. The baby had fallen asleep half an hour ago, but Ig didn’t seem to have any intentions of putting him in bed. He simply relaxed in his seat in the cockpit of their ship as he held the tiny Mooninite to his chest, focusing on the gentle rise and fall of the baby’s back as he slept. 

“I’m aware, Err,” Ig says without taking his eyes off their son. “I’ll go in a minute.”

“You said that a minute ago,” Err whines. “My throat is startin’ to hurt from whispering..!” 

“Then be quiet,” Ig snapped back at Err as quietly as he could. Err pouts, crossing his arms as he slumps into his chair. “Jealous of an infant, are we now?” 

“I ain’t jealous,” Err begins, his eyes narrowing. “It took us long enough to get him to sleep, and if we don’t put him in bed some stupid shits gonna happen that’ll wake him up.”

“Stop making noise, and we won’t have to worry about that, will we?” 

When Err doesn’t say anything in response, Ignignokt smirks in victory.

“Will you at least try to enjoy this moment with me?” Ig finally asks. “This is as much your spawn as it is mine.”

Err pouts again in response to Ig’s earlier teasing and hops over close to where Ignignokt is sitting. The sudden movement causes the baby to shift a little before settling again.

“...Man,” Err says, breaking into a tender smile. “This whole thing is still crazy.”

“Mm.” Ignignokt hums.

“Like, I never expected we’d be sitting here with a kid,” Err shakes his head. “I mean, like _ever._ Let alone _our_ kid.” 

“Perhaps we’re being tested,” Ignignokt suggests, and when Err gives him a look that conveys his confusion, he clarifies. “I mean, where was _your_ father? Where was mine?” Err’s eyelids drop, processing the rhetorical question yet not knowing an answer that would suffice. 

Ig is so gentle, so careful with their baby. For someone who never experienced the touch of a parent, he understood that the baby’s current position wasn’t comfortable and rearranged him so his face was visible. 

He wasn’t much more than a couple pixels right now; but it was the only thing either of them had that they could say was rightfully _theirs._ They looked at that handful of pixels and realized it was the only blood either of them had aside from Cliff, who soon wisened up and left Ignignokt too once he started receiving therapy. This baby might not have much in the way of grandparents, or any sort of extended family outside of his parents, but Err would be _damned_ if he’d ever in a billion god forsaken years ever let his son go through what he did. Err has looked at his upbringing and how it fucks with him to this very day, and he’s painfully determined to do whatever it takes to give this kid a happy childhood. Even if they only had enough money to barely feed themselves, they’d find a way. They always did.

“I can’t stop staring at him,” Ignignokt breaks the tension created by talks of their fathers and redirects the focus towards their son. “I want to tell him we aren’t going anywhere, Err.”

“Shit, the only way we can do that is by just not doing that,” Err snickers. “And I’m a damn maestro at not doing things.”

“A sound idea,” Ignignokt nods. “Will you take him to bed? You’re standing, and I’m sitting. It’s only fair. Plus, I like, totally called ‘not it’ when you were in the other room, so like…” 

“Man, just give ‘im here,” Err moves slowly when he takes the baby in his arms, making sure not to jostle him too much. “Let yer cooler dad take you now.” 

There was no special, designated room set aside for the kid. There simply was no space for that; their ship was essentially a glorified studio apartment with better heating. His crib was posted up by their bed; Ignignokt read somewhere that that was the safest position for it and that it had nothing to do with any lack of space. Either way, looking at the crib made Err sad. 

They didn’t buy it. They didn’t steal it. It was a gift. 

A gift from somebody they hated that hated them in return, someone whose life they did nothing but poison, but he was concerned enough about the situation they were in that he, quote: “had to do something for them.” He was beaming when he presented it to them, and the whole situation dripped with condescension that Err knew probably wasn’t intentional, but it still made him ache to know they couldn’t afford a crib for their son and needed to rely on the undeserved kindness of others to provide for him. It made Err sadder every time he read the note that was passed to him the same day they received the crib; he couldn’t find it in him to throw it away, even if Ignignokt insisted it was unnecessary to hold onto. Err kept it in his wallet, behind his I.D. card. 

It was a really, really nice crib, too. Err thought so, at least. He doesn’t know jack shit about cribs, but it seemed to be of high quality. Ignignokt wanted to run it over with their ship to test it’s vulnerability, then sulked when Err told him no.

Before he set the child down in it’s crib, Err took a moment to feel it’s warm weight against him. He was a _dad._ A dad that knows _nothing_ about kids, or how to take care of one, or what to do when they cry. He couldn’t trust himself with a Tamagotchi, he sure as hell didn’t know what he was doing with a whole entire baby. 

He thinks he’ll do okay, though, with Ignignokt by his side.


End file.
